Russia — 10 Days in Moscow, Saint Petersburg & Murmansk

Russia had been on my mind for a long time, and March 2026 is when I finally made it happen — solo, 10 days, three cities, and one extraordinary Arctic adventure. From the golden metro stations of Moscow to the frozen shores of the Barents Sea, this trip turned out to be one of the most surreal, beautiful and memorable journeys I’ve ever taken.

Here’s the full day-by-day itinerary:

Day 0 — 14th March 2026 | The Journey Begins: Mumbai to Moscow via Baku 

A 4:05 am departure from Mumbai is never fun, but the excitement of finally heading to Russia made it feel very manageable. I flew Azerbaijan Airlines with a layover in Baku, Azerbaijan — about an hour and 50 minutes — before the second leg into Moscow. The total journey is just over nine hours, and I landed at Sheremetyevo International Airport at 12:05 pm local time. 

The flight routing through Baku is actually a lovely little bonus — the Heydar Aliyev Airport is modern and calm, perfect for a short transit. No complaints! 

Day 1 — 14th March 2026 | Arriving in Moscow 

First thing after landing: I picked up an MTC SIM card right at the airport — unlimited internet, 30 days validity. Absolutely essential for getting around a city where everything is in Cyrillic. I also installed a VPN (f3 VPN) immediately after, which is necessary to access social media apps in Russia. 

I took the Aeroexpress train from the airport to Paveletsky Railway Station in central Moscow — a sleek, comfortable 35-minute ride. Paveletsky is one of Moscow’s grand old railway termini, marble-clad and buzzing with travellers connecting to every corner of the country. I then took a Yandex Go cab from there to my hostel on Petrovka Street — one of central Moscow’s most elegant old thoroughfares. 

After settling in, I sent my visa across on the Telegram app as required at the reception, and headed out to explore the neighbourhood. 

The area around Teatralny Proezd (Theatre Lane) is absolutely gorgeous — right in the cultural heart of Moscow, walking distance from the Bolshoi Theatre.

I stopped at Tomiomi Bubble Cafe at 5 Teatralny Proezd for an Anchan Passion Fruit Coconut drink — stunning colour, lovely flavour. Also grabbed a walnut chocolate from ChokoBerry and a cinnamon bun with pistachio from French Bakery in the same stretch. Moscow’s café scene genuinely surprised me — it’s vibrant, creative, and very good. 

Day 2 — 15th March 2026 | Moscow Zoo + Metro Art Tour 

Breakfast was a proper sit-down affair at Restaurant Aroma — classic omelette, iced latte and pancakes with sour cream. Sour cream (smetana) on pancakes is a very Russian thing, and I was already addicted by day two. 

Thereafter, I boarded Purple Line (Line 7) metro at Pushkinskaya metro station, heading in the direction of Planernaya station.

The Moscow Metro itself feels less like public transport and more like an underground museum—grand chandeliers, marble finishes, and a sense of history at every stop. As the train sped through the city, I got a glimpse of how locals seamlessly navigate this vast network.

In a small but heartwarming moment, a kind local woman tapped her metro card for me, saving me the 90 ruble fare. It was one of those unexpected gestures that make solo travel so memorable—proof that kindness transcends language barriers.

I got down at Barrikadnaya station, which is conveniently located just a short walk from my destination: the legendary Moscow Zoo.

Moscow Zoo, one of the oldest zoological gardens in Europe, established in 1864. It spans both sides of a city boulevard near the Barrikadnaya metro station and is home to over 1,000 species. In March, the crowds are sparse and the enclosures are quiet — a very peaceful experience.

Spread across a large area and divided into the “old” and “new” territories (connected by a pedestrian bridge), the zoo houses thousands of animals from around the world. From majestic big cats and playful primates to exotic birds and marine life, the diversity here is impressive.

What stood out to me most was how thoughtfully the enclosures are designed—many aim to replicate natural habitats, making the experience feel less like a traditional zoo and more like an immersive wildlife park. There’s also a strong focus on conservation and breeding programs, highlighting the zoo’s role beyond just tourism.

The pathways are lined with greenery, small ponds, and shaded resting spots, making it easy to spend hours wandering without feeling rushed. Whether you’re an animal lover or just looking for a peaceful escape from Moscow’s urban energy, this place offers a refreshing change of pace.

After a lunch of Margherita pizza with sun-dried tomatoes at Osteria Mario near the zoo, I spent the afternoon doing what I consider one of the best free (or near-free) activities in Moscow: the Metro Art Tour. 

The Moscow Metro isn’t just transport — it’s a network of underground palaces commissioned as prestige projects of the Soviet era. I covered 9 stations on a single ticket: 

Barrikadnaya — my starting point, a simple but elegant station near the zoo Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square) — 76 bronze sculptures of Soviet heroes crouched beneath arches. Soldiers, workers, farmers, border guards with dogs. Superstition says rubbing the bronze dog’s nose brings good luck — I did it twice.

Arbatskaya — a grand Stalinist-baroque hall built in the 1950s, so deep underground it was designed to double as a nuclear shelter 

Teatralnaya — delicate porcelain panels celebrating the performing arts of each Soviet republic — dancers, musicians, singers 

Novokuznetskaya — mosaic ceiling panels depicting wartime scenes, marble benches, and a real sense of gravitas 

Mayakovskaya — arguably the most beautiful station on the entire network. An Art Deco masterpiece of stainless steel arches and oval ceiling mosaics depicting “24 Hours of Soviet Skies.” It stopped me in my tracks. 

Novoslobodskaya — glows with backlit stained-glass panels, each one like a cathedral rose window. Completely ethereal. 

Komsomolskaya — the most theatrical of all, erupting in yellow-and-white baroque grandeur, its ceiling mosaics celebrating Russian military triumphs 

Krasnye Vorota — a lovely Art Deco station with distinctive curved arches and red marble columns 

If you do only one thing in Moscow, do this metro tour. It costs next to nothing and is genuinely one of the most fascinating 2 hours you can spend in the city. 

Evening was dinner at Varenichnaya №1 — pancakes with sour cream again (I told you I was addicted), plus a delicious fruit drink made from apple and sea buckthorn, a small bright orange berry that’s everywhere in Russia. I also wandered through Nikolskaya Street and Kuznetsky Most Street — two of central Moscow’s most atmospheric pedestrian lanes, lined with 19th-century buildings that now house boutiques and restaurants. 

Day 3 — 16th March 2026 | Red Square, Kremlin & Flight to Saint Petersburg 

Breakfast at the Culinary Shop of the Karavaev Brothers — scrambled eggs with bread and a tiramisu. Lovely spot, great for a quick, quality breakfast before a big sightseeing day. 

Then I walked through what every visitor to Moscow must walk: the historic core. 

Red Square is one of those places that lives up to every expectation. It’s vast — 330 metres long, cobblestoned, flanked on all sides by history. Standing in the middle of it and slowly turning 360 degrees is genuinely moving. 

Saint Basil’s Cathedral anchors one end — nine onion domes painted in spiralling colours, each representing a different church stacked together. Commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 to mark the conquest of Kazan. The famous story (possibly apocryphal) goes that Ivan had the architect blinded so he could never build anything more beautiful. Looking at it, you half believe it. 

Along the eastern edge of Red Square is GUM — Russia’s most iconic department store, built in 1893, now housing luxury boutiques beneath a spectacular 19th-century iron-and glass arcade. Even if you don’t shop, walk inside just for the architecture.

The Kremlin walls run along the western edge of Red Square — a 2.2-kilometre triangular red brick fortress that has been the seat of Russian power for centuries, from the Tsars to the current presidency. Lenin’s Mausoleum sits at its base — the granite and marble tomb where Lenin has lain in state since 1924. 

Nearby, Zaryadye Park is Moscow’s newest landmark — a beautiful 13-hectare park opened in 2017 on the site of the demolished Rossiya Hotel. Its standout feature is the Floating Bridge, a V-shaped glass-and-steel walkway that extends out over the Moscow River, giving you completely unobstructed views of the Kremlin skyline. In March, with snow still on the ground, it looked absolutely magical. 

Kitay-Gorod — one of Moscow’s oldest surviving neighbourhoods — is just a short walk, its narrow lanes threading between old merchant houses and Orthodox churches. I also visited the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square, a beautiful 17th-century Orthodox church that was demolished under Stalin in 1936 and faithfully rebuilt in 1993. The State Historical Museum at the northern end of Red Square is also worth a look just from the outside — a gorgeous red-brick neo-Russian revival building. 

I grabbed a cheese croissant back at the Culinary Shop of the Karavaev Brothers and also picked up some fridge magnets near the Kazan Cathedral before heading to the airport. 

By late afternoon, I was on my way to Saint Petersburg on S7 Airlines — a direct 1 hour 45 minute flight that felt almost too short. Arriving into Pulkovo Airport, I took Bus 39 to Moskovskaya Metro Station, bought a metro card, and rode the Blue Line (Line 2) to Nevsky Prospekt station — the grand central boulevard of the city. From there, a walk to my hostel on Gorokhovaya Street, one of St. Petersburg’s three great radiating avenues. 

Day 4 — 17th March 2026 | Saint Petersburg — Hermitage, Spilled Blood & the Embankments 

Breakfast at Bakery Bushe — a raspberry Danish pastry, matcha latte and scrambled eggs. Bushe is a proper St. Petersburg institution — multiple locations across the city, always fresh, always good. 

Then: the Hermitage. No amount of reading prepares you for it. The State Hermitage Museum is one of the largest art museums in the world, spread across six buildings on the Neva River embankment. The crown jewel is the Winter Palace — the official residence of the Russian Tsars from 1732 until the 1917 Revolution. The building is aquamarine and white, its facade 250 metres wide, with 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, and 117 staircases. Walking through the gilded Jordan Staircase is an experience in itself. The collection inside runs from Egyptian mummies and Greek antiquities to Dutch Masters and French Impressionists — over three million objects in total. I could have spent three days there. I spent one morning and came out a little overwhelmed. 

Palace Square in front of the museum is spectacular — the curved yellow arc of the General Staff Building on one side, and at its centre the Alexander Column, the world’s tallest freestanding column at 47.5 metres, topped by an angel holding a cross. It was erected in 1834 to commemorate Alexander I’s victory over Napoleon. 

From the square I walked to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood — the most visually spectacular building I saw in all of Russia, and the one that surprised me most. I expected something austere. Instead, I got a riot of coloured domes, intricate mosaics and decorative stonework, built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. The interior is entirely covered — walls, pillars, vaulted ceilings — in 7,000 square metres of mosaics. It feels like standing inside a jewelled casket. 

On the way back, I stopped for a hot chocolate at BR and Ice, and a hot corn from a street stall — a very St. Petersburg thing, apparently. Then a long walk along the city’s beautiful embankments: Admiralty Embankment, Palace Embankment, English Embankment (named for the British merchants who once lived there), and past the Hermitage / Summer Garden. 

Also visited Kazan Cathedral on Nevsky Prospekt — St. Petersburg’s own version, a neoclassical colonnaded church consciously modelled on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, with 96 massive columns forming a sweeping curved colonnade. 

Dinner was at Kazan Mangal, a Georgian restaurant — beetroot and spinach balls (called pkhali) in walnut sauce. Georgian food is everywhere in Russia and it is absolutely delicious — a wonderful discovery for a vegetarian-leaning traveller. 

Day 5 — 18th March 2026 | Saint Petersburg — Catherine Palace & Grand Maket 

Breakfast at Patisserie Garçon — avocado toast with egg and a cream of white mushroom soup. One of the prettiest cafés I visited on the whole trip. 

Then a cab out to Catherine Palace in the town of Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo), about 25 kilometres south of St. Petersburg. I was not ready for how impressive it is. The facade stretches 325 metres — a seemingly impossible ribbon of blue-and-white Baroque columns, gilded ornament and arched windows. Inside, rooms succeed each other in escalating grandeur. The highlight is the Amber Room — a chamber entirely lined with amber panels, gold leaf and mirrors, originally gifted by the Prussian King to Peter the Great, looted by Nazi Germany in WWII, and painstakingly restored over 25 years and reopened in 2003. Standing inside it genuinely feels like being enclosed in liquid gold. Worth every rouble of the entry fee. 

Back in the city, I visited Grand Maket Rossiya — and this place absolutely blew me away. It’s the largest architectural model in Russia: an 800-square-metre scale miniature of the entire Russian Federation. Over one million individual details — factories, farms, airports, mountains, rivers, cities — rendered with astonishing precision. The lighting system shifts from day to night, and tiny trains actually run across it. I spent nearly 90 minutes there and could have stayed longer. Completely unmissable. 

Evening back on Nevsky Prospekt — another hot chocolate at BR and Ice, and a wonderful pizza with sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan and basil along with iced latte at Pizza 22 cm. 

Day 6 — 19th March 2026 | Flight to Murmansk — Gateway to the Arctic 

Quick stop at Café Kroshka Kartoshka at St. Petersburg airport for a baked potato with cheese and more pancakes with sour cream. No regrets. 

Then the flight north on Smartavia Airlines — a direct 2-hour hop from St. Petersburg to Murmansk. Landing here feels like arriving in a completely different world. I boarded a Yandex Go cab from the airport to my hostel.

Murmansk is the largest city in the world north of the Arctic Circle — about 280,000 people, sitting on the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea at 68°N latitude. Despite being that far north, the port stays ice-free year-round because of the warming effect of the Gulf Stream, which is why it became Russia’s most important Arctic naval and fishing base. The city is stark, built for purpose rather than beauty — long Soviet-era apartment blocks, steep hills dropping down to the frozen bay, and a sky that in March sits low and diffuse with the sun barely clearing the horizon. I found it completely compelling. 

After settling in and exchanging some USD for rubles, I headed to one of Murmansk’s most iconic sights: the Lenin Icebreaker, now permanently moored on the Kola Bay as a museum ship. Launched in 1959, it was the world’s first nuclear-powered surface vessel, spending decades carving routes through Arctic pack ice to supply remote Soviet settlements. Walking its corridors and engine rooms feels like stepping into a Cold War time capsule. 

Higher up the hill is Alyosha — the enormous 42-metre concrete memorial statue of a Soviet soldier gazing north toward the Arctic. Visible from almost anywhere in Murmansk, it commemorates the defenders of the Soviet Arctic during WWII. Murmansk was the endpoint of the Allied convoys bringing supplies from Britain and the US, and one of the most heavily bombed cities in the USSR — losing 90% of its buildings. The statue carries real weight. 

I had dinner at Cafe Delicafe — noodles with buckwheat, egg and teriyaki sauce, plus a honey lingonberry cake and iced latte. Also picked up some desserts and a banana cake with caramel from Dessert Fantasy. I also picked up a pair of socks, some warm mushrooms

I paid for my activity bundle at the hostel — handing cash to the activities guy for three upcoming tours: Teriberka and the Arctic Ocean, Ice Floating, and two Northern Lights hunting tours. It was a surreal moment — paying in cash, in rubles, in a hostel in the Arctic, for things I’d only ever dreamed of doing. 

Day 7 — 20th March 2026 | Day Trip to Teriberka & the Arctic Ocean 

This was the day the trip tipped into genuine wilderness. 

My day trip to Teriberka was one of the most intense and unforgettable experiences of the entire journey — a full-day Arctic adventure that felt like stepping into another world.

The day began early, with a 7:00 am departure from Murmansk, setting off across vast tundra landscapes — frozen lakes, endless white plains, and occasional reindeer silhouettes breaking the horizon.

This wasn’t just a drive; it was a curated Arctic experience covering some of the most iconic and surreal locations in Teriberka:

• The hauntingly beautiful Ship Graveyard, where rusting fishing vessels lie frozen in time
• The otherworldly “Dragon’s Lair” and “Dragon Eggs”, natural rock formations that look almost mythical
• The stunning Batareysky Waterfall and Sandy Bay, where icy cliffs meet the Barents Sea
• A striking sperm whale skeleton, adding to the raw, cinematic feel of the place
• The northernmost swings, perched dramatically against the Arctic backdrop
• Abandoned shipwreck frames and scattered art installations, blending nature with eerie human remnants

Teriberka is a village of roughly 900 people on the Barents Sea coast, about 130 kilometres northeast of Murmansk. The drive there takes you across some of the most striking landscape I’ve ever seen — a vast tundra of ice-covered lakes, frozen rivers, treeless snow swept plains and occasional reindeer silhouettes against white sky. It takes about 2–2.5 hours each way, and every kilometre of it is beautiful. 

Teriberka itself is a ghost of a Soviet fishing settlement — rusting ships beached permanently on the shore, abandoned fish-processing plants, houses with broken windows, the constant low moan of Arctic wind. It gained international attention after starring in Andrei Zvyagintsev’s stunning 2014 film Leviathan, and the bleakness captured in that film is entirely real. But the setting is transcendent. The Barents Sea coast here is wild and vast — pack ice in the shallow coastal waters, black volcanic rock beaches dusted with snow, and a horizon stretching unbroken toward the north where the Arctic Ocean begins. 

I had coffee at Teriberka café and lunch at Teriberka Shore restaurant — pumpkin cream soup, a creamy white cheese pasta and tea. Warming, simple, exactly right for a below-zero afternoon on the Arctic coast. 

Standing on that shore and staring north across the Barents Sea toward the North Pole — there is nothing between you and the top of the world. It’s one of the most profound moments of stillness I’ve ever experienced while travelling. 

On the way back into Murmansk I grabbed a veg burger at Top Burgers.

Day 8 — 21st March 2026 | Ice Floating in the Arctic Ocean + Northern Lights Hunt #1 

In the morning I wandered around Murmansk’s city centre. I picked up Crosby winter shoes from S Oliver Shoes on Lenin Avenue — necessary before the ice floating!

Ice Floating — also called Arctic drift floating — is exactly what it sounds like. You get suited up in a full dry suit that seals at the wrists and neck, walk into the partially frozen waters of the Kola Bay, and float. The suit provides complete buoyancy. You lie flat on the surface of Arctic water, surrounded by ice floes, looking up at the pale Murmansk sky. The water is just above freezing, but inside the suit you are completely warm. The moment you enter the water, any hesitation disappears. Despite the icy surroundings, the suit insulates you so well that you feel surprisingly comfortable — almost weightless — as you lie back and float on the surface, surrounded by Arctic silence.

Safety is taken very seriously throughout the experience. Before entering the water, there’s a detailed briefing by trained instructors, and you’re closely monitored at all times, ensuring a completely safe and controlled environment. It is one of the strangest and most wonderful sensations I’ve ever experienced — a kind of forced meditation, completely silent except for the sound of the ice. Genuinely one of the highlights of the entire trip. I took a Yandex Go cab to the beach for this activity. 

Later on, I explored City Gourmet LLC, a local supermarket chain that turned out to be a treasure trove — blueberries, Karelian pastry with potato filling (a traditional Finnish-Russian border food), bulgur with vegetables, country-style potatoes, Alpen Gold chocolate, chocolate with hazelnuts, shelled walnuts, roasted hazelnuts and almonds, and an ice cream in crème brûlée flavour. Russian supermarkets are genuinely excellent. 

A cappuccino at Coffee Shop — Drink & Think, and a khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread) plus cherry puff pastry at White Rabbit Café. 

Then, as night fell: the Northern Lights. 

The Aurora Borealis is caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere, producing light in shades of green, magenta, violet and white. Murmansk sits directly within the Auroral Zone — the band around the magnetic north pole where aurora activity is most frequent and intense. The first hunting tour drove out of the city light pollution into the tundra darkness, and we waited. 

What appeared was everything every photograph had promised — and still somehow more. Photographs cannot convey the movement, the silence, or the feeling of standing in the cold watching something alive and alien sweep across the sky above you. I stood there with my mouth open for a very long time. 

Seeing the Aurora Borealis had always been a dream — and Murmansk is one of the best places in the world to witness it. The aurora season here runs from September to the end of March, with consistently strong chances of sightings throughout these months.

What makes this experience special is that it’s not just a tour — it’s a carefully planned chase. Instead of locking in a fixed date, the tour is scheduled based on real-time weather and solar activity forecasts, ensuring the highest possible chance of seeing the lights.

Here’s what the experience includes:

• Detailed forecast analysis and guidance on choosing the best night to go
• Flexibility to reschedule if conditions aren’t favourable (subject to available days)
• Round-trip transfers from Murmansk
• An experienced guide throughout the journey
• A professional photo session, so you go home with stunning captures of the aurora

The departure usually happens sometime between 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm, depending on conditions, and the entire experience lasts around 4–5 hours.

One important thing to keep in mind: you’re not booking a specific date — you’re booking the opportunity to see the Northern Lights. The actual outing is scheduled on the best possible night during your stay.

That’s why it’s highly recommended to plan at least 3 nights in Murmansk — giving yourself multiple chances to catch the sky at its most magical.

Day 9 — 22nd March 2026 | Sami Village + Northern Lights Hunt #2

The penultimate day in the Arctic began with a visit to a Sami Village — an encounter with the indigenous people who have called this land home for thousands of years. 

The Sami are the indigenous reindeer-herding people of the circumpolar north, their territory (historically called Sápmi) spanning northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia’s Kola Peninsula. The village visit was a living cultural experience — traditional dwellings, reindeer herding demonstrations, handcrafted clothing and tools, and the food and philosophy of Arctic survival. Reindeer are central to Sami life: they provide food, clothing, transportation and spiritual meaning. Meeting these animals in their winter habitat, in the care of people who have lived alongside them for millennia, was quietly moving. The Sami worldview — a deep, non-hierarchical relationship with the landscape, in which the aurora itself represents the spirits of ancestors — gave the lights an entirely different dimension after this visit. 

Set deep within a snow-covered forest that feels almost fairytale-like, this experience goes far beyond sightseeing — it’s an immersion into Arctic life, traditions, and storytelling.

The day begins with a morning departure around 8:00 am, heading out into the quiet wilderness. From the moment you arrive, you’re surrounded by the spirit of the North.

Here’s what the experience includes:

• Meeting Arctic animals up close — huskies, reindeer, Arctic foxes, rabbits, raccoons, and foxes
• Visiting traditional chum tents, the dwellings of nomadic Sámi people
• Participating in Sámi games and even enjoying quad bike rides (when there isn’t enough snow)
• Trying on traditional Sámi clothing, which adds a fun cultural touch to the experience
• Enjoying light snacks and warm tea, much needed in the Arctic cold
• Discovering shamanic idols, where you can make a wish — just remember to carry a coin ✨

If weather conditions allow, there are also some unforgettable Arctic activities (I did both of them):

• A reindeer sled ride, offering a glimpse into traditional transport
• A ride on a snow “banana” pulled by a snowmobile — surprisingly fun and slightly adventurous

The setting itself is magical — a quiet forest blanketed in snow, where every corner feels like a postcard and every moment is photo-worthy.

The tour typically wraps up with a return to Murmansk around 4:00 pm, leaving you with a deeper appreciation of Arctic culture and a completely different perspective on life in the far north.

During the day I also picked up a cappuccino from a coffee shop in Murmansk, a fridge magnet from Globus, and more supplies from City Gourmet LLC — King Pumpkin “Tsarskaya Chocolate,” Korean-style carrots (house-made), vegetable salad “Tandem,” potatoes with mushrooms, and basmati rice. That supermarket was basically my Murmansk comfort zone. 

And then — the second Northern Lights hunting tour. 

A second aurora hunt is never guaranteed to deliver anything. The lights depend on solar activity and cloud cover, both of which are beyond anyone’s control. But it came. And the second time was different from the first: less overwhelmed, more present. I noticed things I’d missed before — the way green fades to violet at the edges of a curtain, the speed at which a ribbon unfurls across the sky, the stars still visible through the aurora behind it. Standing in the Arctic silence with the lights overhead, I had one very clear thought: this is why you travel. 

Then: a Yandex Go to Murmansk airport at 1:30 am for a 2:55 am departure. The Arctic doesn’t do convenient flight times. 

Day 10 — 23rd March 2026 | Back to Moscow, One Last Morning & Home

The Aeroflot flight landed at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow at 5:20 am — a 2 hour 25 minute flight. My onward flight to Mumbai via Baku wasn’t until 1:05 pm, so I had several unexpected hours to spend in the city. I took the express bus 1195 from SVO to Khovrino metro station, then the metro to Teatralnaya Metro Station.

Moscow at 7 am is quiet and golden. I walked through the city’s historic centre one more time — Red Square, the cathedral, the Kremlin walls — and this time it all felt familiar, weighted with 10 days of memory. I stopped at Kalachino café near Red Square on Nikolskaya Street for a green matcha latte — a perfect farewell ritual. Then a veg Mediterranean sandwich and a berry mousse at Café PRIME — 100% Natural Food. 

Metro from Teatralnaya to Paveletskaya station, Aeroexpress train back to Domodedovo Airport, and then the long flight home via Baku through Azerbaijan Airlines — landing in Mumbai at 3 am on the 24th. 

Final Thoughts: 

Russia in winter is not a country that courts the tourist. It asks something of you — patience, a willingness to navigate in Cyrillic, a tolerance for cold, and an openness to being occasionally overwhelmed. And what it gives back is extraordinary: art that makes your jaw drop, history that is inescapable at every corner, and in the far north, a landscape and a sky that feel genuinely otherworldly. 

Three cities in 10 days solo was the right call. Moscow and Saint Petersburg are world-class cities that would deserve a week each on their own — but doing them back-to-back let me feel the contrast: Moscow grand and muscular, St. Petersburg elegant and theatrical. And then Murmansk — harsh, honest, and the setting for the best three days of the trip. 

The Northern Lights. The ice floating. The Teriberka shore. I’ll be thinking about all of it for a very long time. 

Quick Trip Summary:

Dates: 14th – 23rd March 2026 

Cities: Moscow (2 nights) → Saint Petersburg (3 nights) → Murmansk (4 nights)

Visa: Russian Tourist E-Visa, 30 days, single entry — applied through Niyo app, approved in 5 working days 

SIM: MTC SIM from Moscow airport — unlimited data, 30 days 

VPN: f3 VPN — essential for social media access 

App for cabs: Yandex Go (works brilliantly everywhere) 

Activities booked locally in Murmansk: Ice Floating, Teriberka & Arctic Ocean day trip, Sami Village, Northern Lights Hunt x2 

Stays booked via: Zen Hotels app —

Centeral Hotel Hostel — Petrovka Street, 20/1, Moscow

Simple Gorokhovaya Living Quarters — Gorokhovaya Street, 4, Saint Petersburg

Good Night Rooms & Hostel — Lenin Avenue, 55, Murmansk

Flights booked via: ly.com (travelgo.com) for international, hopegoo.com for domestic 

Travel Trivia:

Country Name: Russia (Russian Federation)

Capital City: Moscow

Largest Country in the World: Russia spans 11 time zones and covers both Europe and Asia

Neighbouring Countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, North Korea

Population: ~146 million people

Currency: Russian Ruble (RUB)

Languages Spoken:

• Official: Russian
• Also spoken: Tatar, Bashkir, Chechen, and many regional languages

Weather:

• Winters: Extremely cold (especially in Siberia & Arctic regions like Murmansk)
• Summers: Mild to warm
• Known for long, harsh winters and heavy snowfall

Cuisine:

• Famous dishes: Borscht (beet soup), Pelmeni (dumplings), Blini (pancakes with sour cream), Olivier salad
• Strong influence of Eastern European and Central Asian flavours

Geography Highlights:

• Home to Lake Baikal (world’s deepest freshwater lake)
• Vast forests, tundra, mountains, and Arctic coastline

Famous For:

• The Kremlin
• Red Square
• Ballet, classical music, literature (Tolstoy, Dostoevsky)

Unique Facts:

Russia has more forests than any other country, covering over 45% of its land.

Russia is so big that it stretches across two continents — Europe and Asia It has more than 40 national parks and 100+ nature reserves The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway in the world (9,289 km).

In places like Murmansk, you can experience the Polar Night (24-hour darkness in winter) and Midnight Sun (24-hour daylight in summer) Lake Baikal holds about 20% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater Siberia alone is bigger than most countries combined.

Saint Petersburg is called the “Venice of the North” because of its canals and bridges Moscow has one of the deepest metro systems in the world Russians are known for their strong theatre, ballet, and opera traditions.

The Moscow Metro stations are often called “underground palaces” because of chandeliers, mosaics, and marble interiors In winter, rivers and lakes freeze so solid that people sometimes walk over them.

Russia is one of the best countries to see the Northern Lights, especially near Murmansk.

Have questions about the trip? Drop them in the comments below — happy to help anyone planning something similar!